Drilling operations generally require a drilling rig that includes a drill floor supported by a support structure. The drilling rig may also include support equipment such as mud circulation equipment, blow out preventers, an operator's cabin, etc. When the drilling rig is no longer needed at a drill site, the drilling rig is transported from the drill site to a second drill site. Often, transporting the drilling rig includes removing the support equipment from the drilling rig and disassembling the support structure. After the drilling rig is disassembled, the disassembled parts are moved to the second drill site to be reassembled, which often take days to complete and can delay drilling operations at the second drill site. Therefore, time is lost and the opportunity for mistakes to be made by operators is introduced during the disassembly and reassembly. In addition, when a tractor trailer is used to tow the disassembled parts of the drilling rig between drill sites, the weight of the disassembled parts of the drilling rig are generally transferred to the tractor trailer using a single load point and the disassembled parts of the drilling rig may “float” relative to the tractor trailer, which can cause difficulty in its transportation.
The present disclosure is directed to a drilling rig transportation system and methods that overcome one or more of the shortcomings in the prior art.